Nova
History : I can do anything, Angel. I can see in the dark. I can juggle cars. I can fly in outer space. Yeah, I can do anything...including burning the surface of this screwed-up planet to ash in order to find her. And if that's what it takes...then that's what I'm gonna do! '' :: --' Nova''' Early History Richard Rider was born in Hempstead, New York. As a teenager, he was chosen at random by the alien Rhomann Dey, last surviving Centurion of the planet Xandar's elite Nova Corps, to inherit his power and succeed him in the rank of Nova Prime following the destruction of his world by the intergalactic pirate Zorr. Having been mortally wounded in the battle that tore Xandar apart, Dey succeeded in tracking Zorr to Earth but was unable to exact vengeance due to the extent of his injuries. At death's door, Dey had little choice but to transfer his power to an unsuspecting human on the planet below, praying whomever he found will take up his cause and prove worthy of the powers he had given. Rider gained great strength, invulnerability, the power to fly, and a uniform with a sealed life support system, but little instruction on how to use these new powers. Still, he took up the life of a superhero, fighting costumed villains such as Condor,5 Powerhouse5, Diamondhead6, Corruptor7 and others in New Yorkand gradually learning how to use his new powers. After a brief career as "Nova, the Human Rocket," he was called into space to serve in the protection of the recently reconstructed planet Xandar, the same world where his great powers originated. Eventually tiring of a life of constant intergalactic war and hoping to rejoin his high school friends, Richard requested to return home to Earth. When he was told he had to relinquish his powers in order to do so, Rider agreed. For a time, Rider lived a relatively normal life, flipping burgers, and barely making ends meet due to his disrupted education. He spent his time trying to pick up the pieces of the life he had left behind, all the while wishing he could find a way to regain the powers he lost. Unknown to him, during this period, the planet Xandar was destroyed again in an attack by the space pirate Nebula. The New Warriors Rich led a listless life. Depressed by the loss of his powers, and unwilling to go back to the high school that all his friends had graduated, he worked odd jobs until the day he was kidnapped by Night Thrasher. Night Thrasher was attempting to build his own super-hero team, and had read Richard Rider's analysis that Rich's powers might be reactivated if he suffered a great enough adrenaline rush. In order to accomplish his "experiment," he kidnapped Rich and dropped him from the top of a building. His powers were then reactivated, and after his initial anger at Dwayne, he eventually agreed to join his team. Nova proved to be a valuable asset to the Warriors. The most experienced of all the heroes, he took the very inexperienced hero, Speedball, and helped develop him as a member of the team. At first he and Speedball went through a clash of personalities, but over time, they became best friends. He was also invaluable in the team's fight against the two Sphinxes, villains from Rich's past. Nova Corps Nova had difficulty in maintaining his duties as both a member of the Nova Corps and the New Warriors. He met an alternate reality Nova, "Nova O:O," who helped Rich develop his powers. He also saved the Earth from destruction by preventing the "Deathstorm" bomb from going off. Eventually, another Nova, Garthan Saal, took over Rich's duties, and for awhile he was without any powers.[citation needed] Namorita From the first time they met,8 it was clear that Richard and Namorita had a certain rapport. This bloomed into a romantic relationship, although a somewhat strained one at that. When Nita underwent a change, turning into the blue-skinned Kymaera, Rich was there for her, not caring about her change in appearance. Later, Rich began a separate relationship (in his civilian identity) with a girl named Laura Dunham, although they drifted apart when she found out about his superhero activities. Nova and Nita continued their relationship, but it eventually fell apart. Nita, undergoing another change in appearance/powers, needed Rich's support, but he turned away from her because of his own personal problems. Rich later became jealous of Nita's relationship with Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), and almost began his own relationship with Mickey Musashi (Turbo). Annihilation Most of the Nova Corps and Nu Xandar had been destroyed by the Annihilation Wave. Richard now contained the Worldmind, giving him substantially increased power in order to battle the threat. However, it is not known how long he could contain the Worldmind. Drax had offered to assist him. Later, in an effort to buy more time for the evacuation of the besieged planet Nycos Aristedes, Nova and Quasar punched through the Annihilation Wave to meet Annihilus face to face on his own command ship. In the ensuing battle, Quasar was killed and, though Rider was forced to flee, his efforts, combined with the timely intervention of the Worldmind, succeeded in driving the Annihilation Wave to retreat from the sector and secure the planet's complete evacuation. Faced with the universal threat Annihilus now posed, Rider and the Worldmind agreed to abandon the search for a safe haven and remained joined together to fight the Wave head on. 205 days after Annihilation Day, Richard Rider formed an army, the United Front, to oppose the Annihilation Wave. His land-based army included Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Ronan the Accuser and Starlord (Peter Quill), while his outer-space forces consisted primarily of Firelord, Red Shift and Stardust, former Heralds of Galactus. Rider and his forces fought valiantly holding off the wave as best as they could gaining small victories here and there. Other allies joined the United Front like Super Skrull and Phyla-Vell. The Front was made up of hundreds of species all fighting to stop the Wave. After months of fighting Nova finally confronted Annihilus and the two began a fierce battle. Phyla-Vell attempted to join, but finds that Nova had sealed her and Quill in an energy bubble, wanting to face Annihilus alone. Using the quantum bands, Annihilus proved to be too much for Nova. Phyla-Vell forced her way out of the bubble and attacked Annihilus, attempting to wrest the quantum bands from him. Annihilus threw her aside, but the quantum bands abandoned Annihilus and joined with Phyla-Vell. Annihilus fought on, but Nova surmised that the gap in Annihilus' armor was his mouth, forcing his hand down Annihilus' throat and tearing out his insides, yelling "This is for the Nova Corps!!". Both Annihilus and Nova slumped to the ground as Nova looked up to see the veiled figures of Thanos and Lady Death looking over him and smiling. Nova told them "Better luck next time". The war was over, Annihilus' forces were defeated and treaties were signed. Ronan now Emperor of the Kree offered to make Nova an honorary Kree. Nova was left debating his future and wondered if he should return home to Earth. Post Annihilation/Civil War Richard and Worldmind went to maintain the duties of the Nova Corps by himself, but got overwhelmed by his sense of duty. As he recklessly tried to shortcut one of the mission travels, he ended up crashing on Earth in wake of The Initiative.9 He went to his parents, learning about the Stamford incident, involving the New Warriors accidentally causing the death of 612 people, most of them children, while chasing super villains. Then suddenly, S.H.I.E.L.D. steps onto the front lawn, having presumed Rider to be an extra-terrestrial threat due to his high power level. Hostilities calmed down when Iron Man, current Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., recognized him. On the Helicarrier, they both talked about their respective wars that they've fought. Iron Man asks him to register with the Initiative, stating that him being a New Warrior and displaying unmatched discipline and responsibility, which the Initiative was striving for in their super humans, could revise the public's current issues about super humans and redeem the New Warriors. Rider asks for 24 hours before he makes a final decision. He then met Justice on the launch deck, who also asked him to join the Initiative. However, while Rider slept on it, Worldmind secretly took over his body, frightening his parents. By morning, he decides to show Worldmind his hometown, when he is attacked by Diamondhead, who had been waiting since Stamford for him to return. He manages to subdue him but after turning his foe in to the police, he is confronted by Thunderbolts, the government's unregistered superhuman hunters.10 The fight was shortly stopped by Iron Man, and he was given a short tour of Richard's old school, where they debated the different ideologies between common purposes and abuse of powers. When he returned home, Richard's parents thought that he was crazy and asked him to register and get himself "looked at" by S.H.I.E.L.D., but he just didn't know what to do. Penance, revealing himself as Robbie Baldwin, came to his house, and urged him to register, to make things better, but Richard thought that his world had gone insane. Saying his goodbyes to Penance and his parents he eventually went back to his Nova Corps duties.11 Annihilation Conquest Upon leaving Earth, distress calls from all over Kree space summoned Rider to the planet Hala, seat of the Kree Empire. Approaching the planet, Rider encountered a contingent of Phalanx-possessed Kree Sentries that attacked him without provocation. The Worldmind reported that these Sentries were carrying viral programming that nearly succeeded in invading its own systems. Cutting and running, Rider attempted to open a stargate and flee, only to impact at full speed against the energy barrier the Phalanx were using to seal off Kree space from the rest of the universe, mortally wounding himself in the process. Flung to a planet on the far edge of Kree territory, Rider's charred body came to rest in a crater near the encamped survivors of a downed Kree vessel. Working quickly to protect its host's remains from incoming Phalanx attackers, the Worldmind chose Ko-rel, a female commander of the former warship, conferring on her the powers and rank of a Nova Corps Centurion and the designation Nova 0001. Nearing death, Rider was transported to the safety of Ko-Rel's ship to give his suit's healing systems time to attempt repairing his broken body. Later, the Phalanx Select Gamora sneaked on board the ship and infected Rider with the Phalanx transmode virus, accelerating his recovery and making him a Select. Now a slave of the Phalanx, Nova rekindled his affair with Gamora, and spent a brief time as a Phalanx Select. Tasked with killing Rider before the Worldmind could succumb to the transmode virus, thus allowing the Phalanx full access to the Nova Force, Ko-Rel attacked him, guided by Worldmind's fast thinking. But once she incapacitates him, she hesitates to finish the job only to be killed by Gamora in retaliation. Upon Ko-Rel's death, the remainder of the Nova Force transferred back into Rider's now fully healed body, enabling him to contain his transmode virus infection and break free from Phalanx possession. Fleeing, Nova utilized the gravity of a nearby neutron star to create a wormhole and escape. In hot pursuit, Gamora and new Phalanx Select Drax followed Rider into the wormhole. Hurled haphazardly through space, Rider found himself far on the other side of the universe where he discovered Knowhere, a small, self-contained city carved into the massive severed head of a long dead Celestial. He met a telepathic dog named Cosmo, who explained that Knowhere is being threatened by the Abyss, a powerful entity and arch-nemesis of the Luminals, Xarth 3's equivalent of the Avengers, who is able to turn anyone into zombies. Rider is able to seal the prison the Abyss was held in, by using the transmode virus to repair it, allowing Knowhere to resume its daily life. Cosmo also provided Rider information about Kvch, the homeworld of the Technarchy, the Phalanx's parents. Using Knowhere's near-universal teleportation technology, Rider made his way to Kvch. However, Gamora and Drax follow him. Eventually arriving on Kvch, home planet of the Technarchy, Rider was able to enlist the help of the mutant Warlock and his son Tyro, who succeeded in completely curing Rider, Drax, and Gamora of the transmode virus before accompanying them back to Hala to engage the Phalanx. Bursting through the Phalanx's recently weakened energy shield, Nova saved Star-Lord's life and aided in the battle against Ultron. Post Annihilation Conquest After the Phalanx conquest, Rider helped Starlord to start the Guardians of the Galaxy, before he went back to his normal Nova duties. He arrived on a planet that was about to be eaten by Galactus. He helped the people of the planet to evacuate and fought the psionic entity Harrow that was killing the evacuees. Harrow was able to jump from mind to mind, but Nova captured him. Unfortunately the ships that were supposed to evacuate the people were disabled by Galactus' electromagnetic disruption. Nova tried to beg Galactus to wait a few hours so the people could escape but Galactus ignored him. The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd) then engaged Nova in combat and was able to force Nova down on to the planet, but Nova pleaded for the time to save the people, and the Silver Surfer utilized the Power Cosmic to shield the space ships. Nova returned to find that Harrow had escaped, then he fought it so all the ships could escape. As he was fighting directly under one of the ships, the ship started it`s star drive engines which killed Harrow, and knocked Nova down for a few seconds. When he regained composure, he found himself trapped on the planet. Worldmind blamed him for his carelessness in protecting his gestalt. Nonetheless, Rider was determined to escape before the planet was destroyed. He attempted to use one of the energy siphons to get onto Galactus' ship. Worldmind said that that plan was crazy, but he went through with it. With great difficulty, Rider was able to get onboard Galactus' ship, despite Worldmind going offline in the process. His suit's user support systems then detected the Harrow in its true form: that of a hideous insectoid. He attempted to kill the horrid creature, only for the Harrow to react to him, overwhelming his defenses with his telepathy. Through it, Rider learned that Harrow was hitchhiking with Galactus, feeding off the terror while Galactus feeds on a planet. Nova revealed Harrow to the Surfer and Galactus. The latter incinerated Harrow, before teleporting Rider five light years away, possibly out of a gratitude. However, the Surfer warns Rider that Galactus doesn't spare anything twice. Secret Invasion The Skrulls lure Rider to an isolated planet under the pretense of a Phalanx infestation, intent on killing him before he could return back to Earth and discover their invasion. However, Kl'rt, the original Super-Skrull revealed himself in the squad and saved Richard. He informs Rider that his people are on a religious crusade, and that they are attacking Earth. Shocked, Richard immediately rushed back to Earth, taking Kl'rt with him. The original Super-Skrull hides his ally from the others by pretending to turn on him. He heads to Project Pegasus to help his brother Robbie, where he aids Darkhawk in defense of the facility. Amazingly, Project Pegasus reveals that they have restore Wendell Vaughn to life and reactivated Worldmind, whom empowered the Minion drones in the complex, turning the tide of the battle. But just as a Skrull warship appears to destroy the base, it itself is destroyed by what seems to be Nova Centurions, saluting Richard as Nova Prime. The New Corp The Worldmind revealed to Rider that it had taken control of his body while he was asleep, recruiting individuals to restore the Corps. Though feeling a little bit betrayed that Worldmind was acting behind his back, Rider decided to use the Corps to clean up the fallout of the Skrull invasion, taking down various villains, including the Serpent Society and Dragon Man. But Rider would soon become horrified when he discovers that Worldmind had recruited Robbie into the Corps. And worse, it had lobotomized Ego the Living Planet, to use as a base to restart the Nova Corps. Richard was cut off from the Nova Force after protesting the Worldmind's plan, in which the Xandarian supercomputer claimed to the Corps that the Nova Force had addled his brain. Powerless, Rider decided to go to P.E.G.A.S.U.S. to get examined on whether his mind was affected by the Nova Force. He also requested that they lure in some Centurion to confirm if they are being controlled by Worldmind. The latter proves correct, as Worldmind was using endorphins and subliminal messages to control the Centurions. Worse, he discovered that having hosted the Nova Force for so long had caused extensive damage to his body at the molecular level and he was in a state of molecular decay. He would die within 48 hours. Unfortunately, Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. was being closed down by H.A.M.M.E.R., before they could find a cure. One of the facility's researchers, Eve Necker, took him to secret lab beneath a drive-in movie. However, he noticed a beekeeper uniform nearby and realized that Necker was working for A.I.M. He rushed out, refusing to be part of any sick A.I.M. experiment and smashed the quantum flask that could have possibly healed him. Just he smashed the flask, Wendell appeared before him. Wendall had retrieved the Quantum Bands from Maelstrom after Maelstrom had stolen them from Phyla-Vell. Taking the bands, Richard was given a second chance on life and became the new Quasar. War of Kings Along with Wendell, Rider return to Nu Xandar to retake the Nova Force and stop the forced recruitment. Unfortunately, Ego had a massive cosmic awareness and could not be taken by surprise. Therefore, Rider created quantum copies of himself to make his assault. Once inside Nu-Xandar, he soon discovers that Worldmind did not subvert Ego, but rather Ego had suppressed Worldmind. With Wendell's coaching on how to use the quantum bands, he created a sanctuary, resembling his old room from Long Island, to protect himself. Conjuring up Rhomann Dey and Ko-rel, both remnants of the Worldmind, Rider learns that that when he took Worldmind to help him prevent the Nova Force from making him go insane, it neglected to do the same for itself. The Phalanx virus and the tangle with Galactus only made it worse, making Worldmind unstable, who called out to Ego for help. Rider then sped off to regain the Nova Force. Once he became Nova Prime once more, he lobotomized Ego. Unfortunately, Worldmind had to reboot its personality because of the damage it had sustained. The new interface became Ko-rel. Rider then went off in search of Robbie, who had left to find Xenith, the Shi'ar Praetorian who had massacred multiple Centurions. He tracked him to Kree-Lar, where he managed to defeat Xenith. Realm of Kings In the aftermath of the War of Kings, Rider admitted that the galaxy does need the Nova Corps. But knows that throwing untrained recruits in the fray would only get them killed, he decided to train the few remaining Centurions as probationers. To assist in this matter, Rider recruited Zan Philo, an MIA Centurion who had returned to his proper universe thanks to the time-space tear known as the Fault. Rider soon learned that his fellow New Warrior Darkhawk was wanted for murdering Lilandra Neramani. While chasing his friend and learning about a Fraternity of Raptors who all resemble Darkhawk, they are pulled into the Fault by their old enemy The Sphinx. In the end of the battle, Rider and Darkhawk return to their universe, unintentionally bringing along the former's lost girlfriend Namorita. Heroic Age Rider was called upon by Captain America (Steve Rogers) to join his covert team of Avengers as a reserve member. Unfortunately, while on his first mission to Mars, Rider became possessed by the Serpent Crown.12 In order to save Richard, Worldmind transferred the Nova Force from the possessed Richard Rider over to Steve Rogers. After the Serpent Crown was destroyed, the Nova Force was returned to Richard. As he recovered from the incident, he aided Spider-Man in stopping extraterrestrials from robbing a bank in New York City. Afterwards, the two had a friendly conversation, congratulating each other for finally making into the Avengers.13 Shortly after this he received a distress call from the Guardians of the Galaxy, forcing him to leave and forcing Steve Rogers and Hank McCoy to search for another cosmic level hero to take his place.14 Thanos Imperative Rider was alerted by Quasar, who had returned from a scouting mission in the Fault, that the tear led to a Cancerverse, filled with demonic versions of Earth's heroes. He headed to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., where Vaughan's counterpart was searching for something on Earth. He chased his quarry all the way back to the Fault, where Adam Magus summoned the creatures of the Cancerverse. In the ensuing battle, the Revengers, dark counterparts of the Avengers, kidnapped Namorita, determining her to be an anomaly. Nova, along with other powerful cosmic beings such as the Silver Surfer, Gladiator, Ronan the Accuser, Beta Ray Bill and Quasar, attacked Sanctuary, the base of the Undying Lord to free Namorita and the other anomalies captured. They succeeded, but were almost blown to pieces when Sanctuary exploded. Later Nova traveled to the Cancerverse just in time to save the Guardians of the Galaxy from the Undying Lord and his Revengers. When the Cancerverse was seemingly destroyed by Thanos who had summoned Death, Nova and Star-Lord remained to prevent Thanos from endangering any more realities. The duo, along with Thanos, were presumed dead, with a statue erected in their memory as well as those of the recently fallen heroes and heroines.15 Thanos, Star-Lord and Nova remained in the Cancerverse fighting over the Cosmic Cube. A returned Drax joined the brawl against the Mad Titan. After Star-Lord starting losing control over the Cube, Thanos offered Quill to give him the Cube, as he could control it, to get back to Earth-616.16 However, Star-Lord killed Thanos with it. As Thanos reappeared and killed Star-Lord from behind, who also returned, the heroes discovered death was impossible in the Cancerverse, as one would merely respawn in another location. After killing Thanos for a third time, the heroes' discussion on what to do was interrupted by the arrival of the Cancerverse's Revengers. Following an extremely long battle, the Revengers got hold of the Cosmic Cube.17 Thanos managed to retrieve the Cube and defeat the Revengers, but was soon opposed by Drax, Quill and Nova. As the Mad Titan was distracted by Drax, Nova picked up the Cosmic Cube, and decided to use it along with the Nova Force to open a gate to Earth-616; however, Rider couldn't come as he was acting as the door between the two universes. As his last wish, Nova asked Peter not to tell Gamora about this event, as it would devastate her. Peter Quill and Drax were then returned to Earth-616, but unknown to him, this also returned Thanos.18 All-New, All-Different Marvel Richard Rider succumbed to the Cancerverse and after death his consciousness was uploaded into the Xandarian Worldmind where it lay dormant until, with the help of Monark Starstalker, Sam Alexander, the new Nova, entered the Fault seeking answers regarding the specifics on how his helmet functioned.19 After learning from the Worldmind that his father's consciousness was not present, Sam went on to speak with Richard, whose conciouness awoke after Sam keept talking about his family, who encouraged him to continue his work with the Avengers, as well as gave him a device which his mother could use to better keep track of him and not worry so much. Sam then returned to Carefree, while unbeknownst to him, Richard somehow returned to life as well, arriving in Hempstead to visit his own mother, Gloria.